He Became Governor To Chew Bubble Gum and Kick Ass, and He's All Out of Bubble Gum

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has had an eventful first six weeks in office:

BATON ROUGE, La. — Downstairs, legislators gnashed their teeth, while upstairs at the Capitol here this week, the new governor claimed victory against the old customs down below.

Six weeks into the term of Gov. Bobby Jindal, an extensive package of ethics bills was approved here this week, signaling a shift in the political culture of a state proud of its brazen style. Mr. Jindal, the earnest son of Indian immigrants, quickly declared open season on the cozy fusion of interests and social habits that have prevailed among lobbyists, state legislators and state agencies here for decades. Mostly, he got what he wanted.

More here.

On the downside, If Jindal succeeds in cleaning up Louisiana, West Virginia may well be next in line for the title of Most Corruption-Ridden State.

A Day of Sadness and Celebration

As you all know, I'm sure, yesterday morning William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away in his study.  He was 82.

I thought about trying to say something semi-profound here about the importance of Buckley to the modern conservative movement, which in turn has had such a strong impact on all Americans (whether they like it or not) and the face of the world, but instead I think I'll let the facts of Buckley's life and the opinions of his colleagues speak for themselves.

Buckley was an astoundingly productive individual. Of course, he started National Review in 1955, taking his stand "athwart history [ie. the rising tide of collectivism], yelling `Stop' at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who urge it."  He wrote more than 50 books in his life, fictional and non-fictional, on an incredible range of topics.  He hosted the debating show Firing Line for 34 years (the longest run of any one host in U.S. television history), and in his prime gave more than 70 speeches and lectures a year.  Somehow, he also found time to become an accomplished harpsichord player, a skilled trans-oceanic sailor, and a fervent skier.

(For a number of moving tributes to Buckley's great personal decency and goodness --qualities that surely deserve mention alongside his discrete accomplishments-- see The Corner.)

George Will has argued, only half-jokingly, that Buckley won the Cold War.  But maybe the best description of Buckley's role that I've seen comes from Mona Charen in today's Washington Post:

The credit for reviving conservatism as a respectable intellectual tradition must be widely shared. Milton Friedman, Whittaker Chambers, F.A. Hayek, Thomas Sowell, Robert Bork, Irving Kristol and many, many more provided essential support. But no one could match Bill Buckley for elan. He was our Samuel Johnson and Errol Flynn rolled into one.

That would be an appropriate note to close this post on, but I feel compelled to end instead with a passage from Buckley's famous mission statement for National Review:

We have nothing to offer but the best that is in us. That, a thousand Liberals who read this sentiment will say with relief, is clearly not enough! It isn't enough. But it is at this point that we steal the march. For we offer, besides ourselves, a position that has not grown old under the weight of a gigantic, parasitic bureaucracy, a position untempered by the doctoral dissertations of a generation of Ph.D's in social architecture, unattenuated by a thousand vulgar promises to a thousand different pressure groups, uncorroded by a cynical contempt for human freedom. And that, ladies and gentlemen, leaves us just about the hottest thing in town.

Indeed.  R.I.P.

An Interesting Criminal Procedure Cert. Grant

In New York v. Belton (1981), the Supreme Court decided that a bright-line rule about the reasonableness of police searches of automobiles incident to the arrest of an occupant  was necessary to serve the interests of protecting officer safety and preventing the destruction of potential evidence.  The Court announced that police, after arresting a subject could -- even where the subject was securely handcuffed in the back of an officer's car --  search through the vehicle the subject had been driving or riding in and any compartments in that vehicle (except for the trunk) without obtaining a warrant. 

On Monday, the Court announced that it was granting certiorari to hear Arizona v. Gant.  In Gant, the Arizona Supreme Court held that officers who want to search a vehicle incident to an arrest without a warrant must have particular reasons to fear that the arrested subject still poses a threat to the safety of the officers or to the existence of potential evidence.  The case presents the Court with an opportunity to either reinforce or reconsider the 27 year-old Belton rule, and their choice may well have implications for the other bright-line rules that form a major part of modern U.S. criminal procedure jurisprudence.  The case will be heard next term.  More here, courtesy of SCOTUSblog.

On another note, I've been working on a lengthy piece on Danforth v. Minnesota, a case that came down last Wednesday that dealt with some very interesting questions about the nature of constitutional rules. It will probably be up tomorrow.

Correction: Fixed some embarrassing spelling and grammar mistakes.

Huckabee on SNL

I know some readers will probably disagree, but I thought he was pretty funny:

 

 

Update:  Fixed the video.

Justice Kennedy Strikes Back

At an event last Wednesday, Justice Kennedy returned fire (sort of)against critics of his discussion of foreign law in his majority opinion in Roper v. Simmons, the 2004 case announcing that a "national consensus" had developed against executing juvenile offenders and that such executions had therefore become cruel and unusual punishment.  At the event, Kennedy said of the fights over Roper  "[t]here was kind of a 'know-nothing' aspect to the debate, it seems to me." 

I won't revisit the whole dispute about the Roper majority's use of foreign law in the case, but I think it's worth remembering that one key reason (though hardly the only one) why that aspect of the majority opinion prompted so much flack is because the majority's arguments that American national public opinion had evolved to a point where a national consensus existed against the execution of juvenile offenders were almost comically weak.  Put another way, the mere fact that the justices in majority turned to an examination of foreign law at all seemed to imply that even they realized there was no real evidence to support their view that a new domestic consensus had developed.

Continuing on the evolving national consensus front, the Court is faced with a case this term, Kennedy v. Louisiana (the name of the petitioner is a coincidence) , where evolving moral standards appear to support broader application of the death penalty.  A lot more on that case later, but I'll point out that it will be very interesting to see whether and how Kennedy addresses that situation.  

Yet Another Corrupt Congressman (Allegedly)

PHOENIX - Federal authorities announced corruption charges Friday accusing Rep. Rick Renzi of engineering a swap of federally owned mining land to benefit himself and a former business partner and stealing from his insurance company's clients.

A lengthy federal investigation that had put the three-term Republican congressman under a cloud for more than a year culminated in a 26-page indictment issued Thursday against him and two other men. Renzi announced Aug. 23 that he wouldn't run for re-election in Arizona's mostly rural 1st Congressional District.

"Congressman Renzi deprived the citizens of Arizona of his honest services as a United States elected representative," U.S. Attorney Diane J. Humetewa said.

More here.

Unsettling Incompetence

Via UPI:

The Secret Service told Dallas police to stop screening for weapons while people were still arriving at a campaign rally for Barack Obama, a report said.
Police stopped checking people for weapons at the front gates of Reunion Arena more than an hour before the Democratic presidential hopeful appeared on stage Wednesday, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported.
Police said the order to stop using metal detectors and checking purses and laptop bags constituted a security lapse, the newspaper reported.

You would think that if there was one city where the Secret Service could not be help but be vigilant, it would be Dallas.

 

Update:  The Secret Service denies the story.

Constitutional Cases Before SCOTUS in 2007-2008

I've been working on a significant new feature for a while, and am pleased to announce that it's finally ready for use.   Of the approximately 75 cases the Supreme Court has decided or will decide during this term, 21 of them turn, at least in part, on the interpretation of some constitutional language.  Despite the outsized importance of these cases and the news coverage given to them individually, I haven't found one good place where one can quickly get up to speed and stay current on all of these cases at once.  Thus, I created my own.

This feature -- a look at the constitutional cases before the Court during the 2007-2008 term -- currently contains for each case some basic background info and  a brief description of the major constitutional issue or issues raised.  The cases are listed in chronological order by argument date or scheduled argument date.  Cases that have been argued by this point have links to argument transcripts (and audio, if available,) and cases that have been already been decided (only two, as of this writing)  have links to the SCOTUS opinions.  Of course, links to new argument transcripts and opinions will be added as the term further progresses.  Additionally, I am gradually working on adding links to the relevant lower court decisions being appealed and some links to news and scholarly coverage.   Case information is taken from the invaluable SCOTUSwiki, from the Oyez project website,  from various places on the Court's own site, and from my normal travels around the net. 

I'm sure I'll revise the general format and content of the feature as I go along;  this is very much an evolving project.   Right now the info is in a .pdf file, but that might change if I find a better way to do this within the limitations of Blogger.  I hope you find this feature interesting and useful, and if you have any suggestions (or corrections) leave them in the comments.

 

Update:  The links in this post will continue to point to the version of the file that was posted on this date.  For the most recently updated version of this feature, click the permanent link at the top right corner of the main page.

It Worked

From the AP:

A missile launched from a Navy cruiser soared 130 miles above the Pacific and smashed a dying and potentially deadly U.S. spy satellite Wednesday, the Pentagon said. Several defense officials said it apparently achieved the main aim of destroying an onboard tank of toxic fuel.